The African nation of Rwanda is quite a distance from Aurora, Colorado, but on Thursday, May 10, it seemed closer to the city with the presence in Aurora and Denver of Rwandan mayor, Justus Kangwagye.

Kangwagye was invited by Africa Agenda to Community College of Aurora(CCA) for a discussion, Rwandan Progress, to recount the progress that Rwanda has made in the last decade.

The nation is often cited as an example in Africa for its ability to transcend hatred and divisions into a twenty first century democracy and economy.

The Rwandan mayor is the recipient of the 2010-2011 Imhigo prize, offered by the Rwandan government to officials who meet the majority of their performance contract goals.

In a welcome remark, CCA’s Executive Director for Grants and Planning as well as Director of the Aurora Leaning Center, Dr. Chris Ward lauded the visit by the mayor to Colorado and to CCA and said he was pleased that Africa Agenda was working with CCA to help bring these events to the college.

Ward was thankful that there is good governance in Colorado and certainly pleased that someone like Kangwagye who has won an award came to CCA to discuss his African leadership experiences. CCA works with organizations around Aurora and the greater Denver area, he explained to the audience.

“At the Community College of Aurora, we take the word community seriously,” he said.

The director also referenced the high population of students from African nations studying at the college, with recent estimates of around 20 nations from Africa that are represented at the college. “Students from many other parts of the world are an important part of the educational experience here.”

Earlier in the day, the mayor from Rwanda was at Denver-based non-profit, Water For People, which is leading water and sanitation projects in Rwanda.

The event was organized by Africa Agenda, and took place at the Lowry campus of the CCA, with support from CCA’s office of strategic partnerships and resource development. It is Africa Agenda’s second event at CCA, with the first being the Cameroon Information and Education Day, CIED, which was held at the Center Tech campus in May, 2009.